The present invention relates to a leak fuel gas discharging structure of an automobile that discharges a compressed fuel gas, leaking from a fuel tank, outside the automobile.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. (HEI) 8-88544 discloses an automobile equipped with a fuel gas tank. The tank is disposed in a trunk room of the automobile and connected with an outlet of a gas supply pipe. The gas supply pipe has an inlet connected to a filler recess formed in a sidewall of the vehicle body. The filler recess is normally closed by a filler lid. The filler lid is adapted to be open so that a compressed fuel gas can be filled or charged through the gas supply pipe into the fuel gas tank.
The fuel gas tank may encounter a problem that the compressed fuel gas leaks from a body of the fuel gas tank or a connection between the fuel gas tank and the gas supply pipe. To deal with this problem, the disclosed automobile has a leak fuel gas discharging device or structure for discharging the leak compressed fuel gas outside the automobile.
The leak fuel gas discharging structure comprises a gas discharge pipe system having plural inlets that open to the interior of valve covers connected to the tank body and a single outlet that opens from the filler recess to the outside air. With this arrangement, the leak compressed fuel gas is discharged outside the automobile through the gas discharge pipe system.
Due to the use of the gas discharge pipe system, the conventional leak fuel gas discharging structure has a relatively large number of parts used and requires a relatively long assembling time. This constitutes a bar to cost-cutting of the automobile.
Additionally, the gas discharge pipe system requires a relatively large space for installation and hence lowers the degree of design freedom of the leak fuel gas discharging system.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a leak fuel gas discharging structure of an automobile, which is inexpensive to manufacture, is easy to assemble and has a higher degree of design freedom.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to the present invention, there is provided an automobile having a leak fuel gas discharging structure for discharging a compressed fuel gas, leaking from a fuel tank disposed in a space below a floor panel of the automobile, outside the automobile. The leak fuel gas discharging structure comprises: a wheel house having an internal space formed therein; a hollow reinforcement member extending between the floor panel and the wheel house and having a hollow channel interconnecting the space below the floor panel and the internal space of the wheel house; a body panel disposed on an exterior side of the wheel house and having a filler recess formed therein; and a filler lid attached to the body panel so as to open and close the filler recess, the filler recess being normally closed by the filler lid with a clearance defined between a peripheral edge of the filler recess and a peripheral edge of the filler lid. The wheel house has a portion corresponding in position to the filler recess and having an opening formed therein, the opening interconnecting the filler recess and the internal space of the wheel house. The hollow channel, the internal space, the filler recess and the clearance together form a continuous leak fuel gas discharge passageway extending from the space to the outside of the body panel thereby to allow the leak fuel gas to flow outside the automobile through the passageway.
It is preferable that the hollow reinforcement member is inclined upward in a direction from the floor panel toward the wheel house, the opening in the portion of the wheel house is disposed at a higher position than an upper end of the reinforcement member, and the clearance is disposed at a higher position than the opening.
The hollow reinforcement member may be tapered in a direction from the floor panel toward the wheel house. Further, the hollow reinforcement member may be aligned with the portion of the wheel house.
The hollow channel of the reinforcement member has a rectangular cross section or a circular cross section. When used with hydrogen gas or a like gaseous fuel much lighter than air, the hollow channel of the reinforcement member may be open downward.